


blueberry candy and orange soda

by Kasibeedrill



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Non-binary character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26838490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasibeedrill/pseuds/Kasibeedrill
Summary: Like most other college students working a minimum wage job for some reason or another, Leon exactly say he loves his job or anything of the sort. The same headache-inducing customers, the same glancing at the clock every two minutes while willing it to move faster, the same annoying number one hit song playing for the fifth time. The same everything-Until there's a flash of blue.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 18
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like this short intro! Any notes are appreciated, but I am very excited to be writing this story for you all. Something sweet that I've had on my mind for a bit

Sonia was a very smart friend; one of the smartest people Leon ever knew to be quite honest. Despite all of that, he had not listened to her advice.

_ Don’t do retail Leon! I know you want the extra cash, but trust me! It’s not worth it.  _

Gods above, how he  _ wished  _ he listened to her. For as much as he wanted some side cash, he wasn’t entirely sure of whether or not it was worth it. 

Giggling and rowdy groups of teenagers coming in, pulling folded clothes up off displays and misplacing them halfway across the store. Old women flirting with him over the counter and pinching his cheeks before he could move out of their reach. Those same old women turning batty as all heck as he tells them he can’t take their coupons. Having to chase couples out of the changing rooms not only for holding the line up, but for just straight up doing their dirty business out in a public space.

Doing all of that for minimum wage? Not exactly Leon’s ideal life that’s for sure.  He does wish he listened to Sonia, but getting his paychecks does make it all seem like it's worth it sometimes.

Right up until he clocks in for another shift.

He finds some solace in the fact that he is not the only college student struggling through a minimum wage job, but not much. 

_ Not much at all _ , he thinks wryly as he watches a group of teens accidentally knock over some clothes on their way out, waving it off and continuing on their way without a care in the world. 

Leon goes to pick up the clothes and bring them behind the counter for refolding when he notices a lone customer in the store. A glance at the clock shows it's an hour until closing and this seems to be the only customer left in the store. Might as well help them so they could leave and he could start cleaning up. 

Approaching them, Leon isn’t really sure how he missed them before. They were a tall, skulking figure; their face shadowed by a hood. Leon stopped by the side of them. “Can I help you find something?”

The movement was so small Leon almost missed it, but he most definitely was able to see the slight jump of the shoulders of the customer. They turned ever so slightly and Leon could only just make out bright eyes peering down at him from under the shadow of the hoodie.

A beat passed. 

A blouse is hesitantly held up in Leon’s direction. “Would you happen to have this a size or two bigger?” 

Leon blinked. That was...certainly a much deeper voice than he had expected for someone browsing women’s blouses. 

He looked back towards the outside of the store. A quick assessment saw no groups of obnoxious teens with their phones out recording what he quickly assumed was some sort of dare. Or maybe he just couldn’t see them. 

He could be nice though, help make this guy feel a little bit better about the whole thing. “I can check in the back! Shopping for the girlfriend?” 

The stranger reaches a hand up to rub the back of his neck, but doesn’t answer Leon’s question. 

He walks around to a different part of the display, eyes searching for something. Leon hovers close by, attending to other shelves nearby since the customer hadn’t dismissed him yet. Leon wasn’t entirely of whether they still wanted his help, but it was always better to hang around for a bit just in case. 

Sure enough, after a bit of perusing the customer approaches Leon and nearly gives him a heart attack. Despite his tall form, the customer seems surprisingly light on his feet.

He holds up some more blouses from the same collection in his arms. “I-um.” 

Leon looks wearily at the tops in the customer’s arms. In probably less than one minute, this customer would decide this dare wasn’t worth it, promptly toss the clothes on the rack nearby and dash out of the store. Leaving Leon with even more work to do before closing. Which was just  _ perfect _ since he was the only one scheduled for toni—

“I saw the matching bottoms for these seem to be out of stock. Do you have more in the back or recommend anything else that might match?”

Leon stares at him and barely holds back from flushing in shame because he knows his mum raised him better than to just go around  _ assuming  _ things. God. 

He gives his best charming smile. “It’s a very popular collection, so more than likely yes. I can also show you some other options.” Because Leon didn’t know his way around fashion much — not at all Sonia would say — but he does see many of the same combinations of clothes checked out at the register.

Leon also directs him towards the back. “There’s some dressing rooms back there if you’d like to start trying stuff on. I’ll bring over the other clothes for you in a minute.” 

The customer’s shoulders sag ever so slightly before he nods and thanks Leon under his breath before going to do just that. 

After Leon procures what he can from the stock, he finds the dressing room the customer is in easily. As there is only one custom in the store, there is only one door closed. He knocks hard enough for the sound to be heard over the rustling of clothes. “I found more stuff in the back.” He clears his throat. “I forgot to ask if you wanted the tights, short skirts or long ones so I just kind of...brought them all?” 

A second or two of silence passes before the door creaks open and a brown hand reaches out. Leon obligingly hands over the clothes. “I’ll be up front if you need anything else.” 

He receives another low thanks before the door closes back shut. 

Leon takes a glance at the clock. Forty until closing. 

He makes himself busy by getting all the clothes lying in disarray around the store and bringing them up front to refold. He just manages to finish folding up the last one and clearing the counter right before another bundle of clothes is dropped in front of him some fifteen minutes later.

Trying not to appear too startled by the sudden presence Leon offers a smile once again. “Did everything fit alright?” 

The customer’s mouth opens before he snaps it shut and gives a terse nod instead. 

Fully facing Leon now, the shadow of his hood doesn’t have as much effect as before. It’s a hard task for Leon not to stare too much at the stranger. For one, from what Leon can see, he is  _ very  _ handsome. For another, he also seems vaguely familiar. He’s not exactly sure of why, but Leon can feel something pricking at the back of his mind. 

Leon doesn’t want to come off as a creep though, so he turns and rings everything up on the register instead. “Alright, your total for today will b-” He’s cut off a sharp noise.

The hooded customer nearly jumps out of his skin and hurriedly takes his phone out of his pocket as another alert from the device comes through. Shadowed eyes rove over the screen before they widen a fraction as he bites his lip.

Was that a fanged tooth?

Leon clears his throat. “Um, sir-?”   


Blue eyes snap towards Leon, almost like he had forgotten the man was there somehow. The customer quickly pockets his phone before making a wary glance between Leon and the doors leading out the store. “S-sorry, I.” That’s all the customer got out before he was dashing out the store faster than Leon could follow. If he squinted he could swear he would see a cloud of dust left in his wake. 

Startled by the suddenness of it all, Leon found himself walking to the doors of the store, looking around outside for a bit. But there was nothing but the night time crowd of the mall anywhere he looked. 

Scratching his head, he walked back over the counter, frowning at the pile of clothes left in his wake. He should be annoyed right now. A whole bundle of clothes that he had to go to the back to get, only for them to be left in disarray. Yet…

Leon only let out of a huff as he gathered the clothes to put behind the counter as a hold item. 

Call it intuition, but he had a feeling that he would be seeing that customer again soon. 

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Noise. Noise All around him. 

“Leon? Leon?....Leonnnnnnn”

Noise. There was too much noise. Must. Keep. Eyes….Closed…

“Leon!” 

With the groan of a martyr about to face a trial, Leon rolled his head out of his arms to be able to look Sonia in the eye, the other faces and bodies milling about the cafeteria easily because unfocused, blurred blobs of color to his tired mind. 

She gives him a look filled with some sympathy. “Closing shift again last night huh?

He pushed himself fully off the table with a groan. “Closing shift again,” he confirms while picking up his fork. Tired as he was, he might as well try to eat something before his next class. 

Sonia huffs and opens up her own lunch as she sits down next to him, all of her sympathy washed away apparently. She’s not saying it, but he can practically feel the I told you so from her breathing down his neck. “Well I guess that means you won’t be able to make it out tonight huh? Gonna be too busy resting up...”

He winced. Definitely forgot about that. “Well. I won’t be able to make it, but less so because I’ll be sleeping and more so because….I’m doing another closing shift.” 

Sonia gapes at him. “For the fifth night in a row?! Leon they can’t do that to you! Let them find someone else to cover!” Her anger is righteous, a mix of concern and genuine annoyance at the manager’s at Leon’s store. He probably would’ve been right up in arms with her.

Had it not been for one small fact that is. 

“Actually I. I kind of have been volunteering to cover my coworkers’ shifts.” 

“Ah!” She blinks in surprise before her eyebrows furrow. “Leon! Why?” 

Because he had always been a bit more on the curious side. He really did know, and felt like that customer was going to come back. The hooded figure had radiated a sort of nervous energy that made Leon feel like they weren’t trying to be seen, making it more than likely that if he did come back, it would be during another late shift. Leon hadn’t actual been scheduled for any other closing shifts that week, but one thing led to another and well...It’s not like any of his coworkers fought especially hard to switch shifts with him. 

But he didn’t tell any of this to Sonia. Instead he simply offers her a, “Some extra quid never hurt anyone right?” 

Sonia peers at him and opens her mouth like she wants to say something before she decides better of it and simply pinches the skin between her eyebrows. She takes a deep breath before dropping her hand and turning back to her food. She takes a few bites before turning back to Leon again.

"So, I here Hop's been spending a lot of time with Gran nowadays."

And just like that the conversation shifts and it is all too easy to forget what they were talking about before. 

* * *

Despite everything, Leon wasn’t sure how long he could actually keep doing this. 

While this usually just meant retail in general, as of right now this currently encompasses a man herding his family through the doors of the store as slow as humanly possible. All the while yelling all sorts of profanities about how he was going to call the head and get Leon fired; for the past fifteen minutes. 

Though annoying, Leon could barely hold himself back from making an undignified snort at the wild claims from the man. He’d really love to see him try to get Leon fired for not being able to refund a knitted top; A knitted top that has been bought well over sixty days ago and has since been ruined to the point, Leon had doubted the dubious looking item had even come from their store in the first place. 

“Thank you for shopping with us! Have a wonderful evening!” He called out to the family, half because he was required to and half because he just thought it might piss the man off even more. 

He was not disappointed to see the man’s face flush even more in anger as he and his family disappeared into the mall. 

Leon rolls his eyes as he moves his attention away from that and does a quick scan around the store. Nobody else was in here it seemed, and he had about an hour until closing. With these facts in mind, he makes the decision to turn back towards his homework strewn about on the counter. His very nearly late homework. 

He frowned. 

The homework wasn’t necessarily hard to be completely honest. But just being able to find the time to complete it between other classes, footy, and work was damn near impossible. Especially with how he had been covering so many shifts this week. 

Maybe there was some merit to be found in Sonia's concerns. They most definitely weren’t unfounded, that was for sure. 

Maybe, just maybe he could afford to—

“Um, excuse me?” 

His head snapped up, very up, only to see the same figure that had been stuck in the back of his mind for the past few days. Different hoodie, face still as shadowed as before, with the only thing Leon could mostly make out being a shade of blue eyes peering down at him. 

He leaned up fully and pushed his work to the side out of view before smiling. “Welcome back sir.” 

The man nodded at Leon. His mouth opened and closed a few times before his shoulders seemed to draw in impossibly close.

Leon tilted his head at him. “I have the clothes you were looking at the other day behind the counter if you still want those?”

The man blinks at him. “Er yea.” He clears his throat. “Yes, please.”

Leon smiles at him before moving to get the items and ring them up for him. When Leon slides the bag over the man, he is surprised when the customer makes no immediate moves to take the bag and instead shuffles from side to side a bit on his feet. 

He frowns at him. “Ah, is there anything else you n-”

There is a bag in front of him.

A bag and a drink in fact. 

He blinks at the items. “Wha-?”

“I-I came by earlier. I saw you,” the customer starts to gesture vaguely with his free hand. “You and that guy and his family. Looked like you were having a bad day. These are my friend’s favorites. She says they’re always a good pick me up.” 

Leon lets out a soft, “Oh.” 

He can’t see it, but he can almost feel the flush in the customer’s voice. “It was just a thought though. You don’t have to.” 

The customer starts to retract his hand and Leon lays claim to the offered items before he can think better of it. “No no! That’s. That’s really sweet, thank you.” He feels his face forming a completely genuine smile at the gesture.

The man blinks once at Leon, then grabs his things and hurries out the store. 

Leon smiles after him and then down to the things he was given. Upon closer inspection it seems to be a mango dragonfruit drink and two slices of banana bread. 

Huh. 

He was fairly certain this was Sonia’s preference of order. He smiles around the bite of banana bread. 

The stranger's friend must have good taste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another quick chapter! Hope anybody is enjoying this so far, more interaction to be seen between the main two soon!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Leon didn’t think that being away from home would be very hard on him to be honest. He technically wasn’t very far. But with a job, homework and footy he didn’t exactly have the time to jump on the train to run back home whenever. But it was fine, he wasn’t going to be that homesick. 

Really, he wasn’t.

That’s what he tried to tell himself all the time. Then he’d find himself face to face with his mother’s ever gentle smile, slowly acclimating more wrinkles on the side, or as of right now, Hop’s mud covered face and feel something inside him clench a little. 

“-and they were so big! It’s like she’s raising real wolves instead of dogs!” Hop exclaims as his hands shoot up to show Leon just how big he means.

Leon laughs, not quite believing Hop’s exaggerated fanatics. “What were their names again?” 

Hop pouts and puffs his cheeks out a bit. “Zacian and Zenta! She says they’re Blue Heelers but they’re way, WAY bigger. Wolves, I’m telling you! Zenta jumped on me at some point and I swear when he stood on his hind legs he was taller than a _building!_ ” 

Leon rolls his eyes. “I doubt that.”

Hop shakes his head vigorously at him. “No, they were! I’ll show you nex-” Hop suddenly stops talking and seems to deflate a bit. 

He frowns a bit at the sudden drop. “Hop?” 

“I-I was gonna say I’ll show you next time you call but...” Hop’s eyes slide off to the side somewhere and Leon feels a hot flash of guilt go through him. 

“Hop, I..”

His brother cuts him off before he can speak, the spark easily finding its way back into his golden eyes. “It’s fine! I-I know you’re busy Lee. Just try and call when Gloria is over okay!!” 

Leon doesn’t know how he’ll manage that, as he is _not_ a mind reader or anything of the sort, but for Hop—

He smiles gently at his younger brother, “I can try.” 

That’s apparently enough for Hop, who lets out a small whoop of excitement. “Alright! Mum wanted me to do some stuff before she got home so I’m gonna now Lee. Talk to you soon, alright?” Before Leon can even say goodbye in return, the feed cuts off and he is left staring at black. 

Hop _really_ must’ve been in a rush if he didn’t take the extra minute to say goodbye. Must have been trying to get in as much time talking to Leon as he could. The thought only makes the flash of guilt he felt earlier curdle. 

Well, on the bright side, he had talked to his manager about working less shifts and they had been completely fine with it. So that cleared up some time for him...Quite a bit of time actually. He didn’t really realize how much he had been working till—

 _Knock, knock, knock_. 

He tilts his head at the polite knocking, questioning frown already forming on his face as he gets up to answer the door. 

“Sonia?” He asks skeptically even as he moves to let her inside. “You should’ve told me you were coming over. I would’ve tried to straighten up a bit,” Leon tells her a wry glance at the common space of his apartment. 

His roommate is….a strange one that’s for sure. 

Because of a mix-up Leon lives off campus instead of on it. There was somebody in the area by his school looking for a roommate at a price that Leon was certain was pretty fair compared to everywhere else in the area. Meeting the guy had been well and Leon was sure this was to be a fruitful arrangement. 

Oh how wrong he had been. 

It’s not like he and his roommate hate each other or anything, but they just tended to push the other button’s _just_ the right way. It eventually just led to them being cordial and not talking to one another unless they needed too. In the beginning that had mostly been Leon trying to remind his roommate to clean up after himself, as he tended to leave a bit of a mess when he stayed up late doing _whatever_ it was that he tended to be doing. 

His roommate would clean up, eventually, but it was never when Leon was around or awake. Had Leon been younger, he would’ve suspected the man was of the vampiric kind.

As of right now there were sheets filled with something or another Leon couldn’t discern scattered about the couch and a pair of headphones. Not much of a mess in retrospect, but certainly anything more than his mum had ever let him get away with. 

Leon hated appearing like a slob. Even though Sonia was a close friend he still didn’t want to appear entirely unkempt in front of her and he would have made some effort to make the place look neater had he known she was coming. 

Sonia wasn’t one to show up without some kind of warning of anything ahead of time. That she was here right now, sauntering into his apartment was very strange. 

She waves him off. “Don’t worry about that love.” 

Not only that, but Sonia was happy with him. _Way_ too happy for him in his opinion if the beam on her face was anything to go by. He couldn’t think of discernable reason for it. It’s not like he’s done anything grand for her lately. But he’s learned a long time ago not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She looks him up and down for a second before her beam becomes impossibly wider. Bright eyes peer up at him. “You’ve been taking less shifts haven’t you?”

He blinks at her. “You can tell?”

Sonia lets out a breath of relief it seems. “For one, you just told me. For another you look much less tired!”

Leon sheepishly plays with the hem of his shirt. “I feel it too. I actually finished up some stuff ahead of time so I have some free nights until football practice.” 

If he thought the grin on her face was big before, the one she wears currently threatens to split her face. “That means you’re free tonight right!” 

“Uh. Yea I suppose but-” 

“Perfect! _Please_ tell me you have something in black to wear.” She doesn’t wait for an answer before going to Leon’s room. 

“H-Hey! Sonia, wait! What’s this about? Sonia?!”

* * *

“You know,” Leon starts as he watches streets, trees and people pass him in a blur from the passenger’s side of Sonia’s car under the late evening sky. “It would’ve been nice if you could actually tell me where we’re going.” 

Even in the hassle of her upending his entire closet to find one suitable black button down and a pair of black jeans - this was of course, not without complaining about how horrid his sense of fashion was and promising she was going to drag him to a clothing shop with her one of these days - Sonia had not once explained what was up. 

She blinks once as the car slows to a halt for a red light. “Oh right.” She says suddenly, as if it just occurred to her you normally explain these kinds of things to people before suddenly dragging them off.

Sonia was bright, one of the smartest people Leon has ever known and will probably ever know. Even so, Sonia has her lapses with people every now and then. 

It was comforting in a sense to be honest. It reminded him that she, despite her nature as some omnipotent being, was just as human as he was. 

Her voice snaps him out his thoughts. “We’re going to help a friend of mine out with something.” 

His brows furrow at her wording. “I know Nessa you know.” 

Sonia doesn’t take her hands off the wheel as the light turns green, but he can tell from the look on her face she would have whapped him on the side had her hands been free. 

God gives small mercies sometimes. 

“I’m not talking about Nessa, Leon. For one, I would’ve just said Nessa. You’ve met her! Also she’s not my friend Leon, she’s my _girlfriend_.” Her voice gets stricter as the sentence goes out as she tries to stress a point to Leon, but it all falls flat when her voice gets just a bit mushy around the word ‘girlfriend.’

It’s sweet really, but as Leon values his life, he knows not to open his mouth to voice the aforementioned thought. 

As it is, all he lets out is a small, “Oh.”

She rolls his eyes at him. “Ness is gonna meet us here actually.”

Here? 

Indeed, now that he looks, her car is pulling into a parking spot in the lot for some building. It’s quite dark so it’s hard to make out, but he thinks….It almost looks like…

His body seizes up before he whips around in a hurry. “Sonia I can’t be here!””

She raises a delicate eyebrow at him as she takes her keys out the car. “Is that so?” Her tone is mocking, but it’s because she doesn’t understand. He’s sure she just doesn’t get it. 

“Scones I _really, really_ can’t be seen here. Don’t you remember I’m captain of the _Wyndon_ football team?!” He whispers in a frenzied rush.

“.....Yes?” 

“Then _why_ are we at a building for _Hammerlocke University_.” 

Leon didn’t have anything against Hammerlocke or anybody who went there. However, from the minute he joined the team up until he became captain, his coach never failed to remind them of who they were always really competing against, even if they were playing a game against some other school.

Because for some reason or another, Wyndon and Hammerlocke had been rival schools. Nobody knows why, but it’s just always been that way. They had yet to play a game against Hammerlocke, but Leon knew one was coming up soon. 

Sonia was getting out of the car.

“H-hey! Sonia, my coach is gonna kill me if he finds out I was here!”

“Ugh! If for some _ungodly_ reason your coach _does_ care that much, what is he going to do? KIck you off the team? Leon you’re the captain _and_ best player, you’re fine there. Plus, who’s gonna be here to tell? I’m certainly not going to. Do you see any other tosser here?”

Looking around the lot he could only spot one other car parked here. Hm.

He reluctantly gets out of Sonia’s car as she scoffs at him while wiping imaginary dust off of her black dress. “You’re such a baby sometimes I swear. Come on.” 

He follows her inside the building. All the lights were still on, but the building was eerily quiet. He could hear a few voices talking and laughing from down one set of staircases, but nothing besides that. 

Suddenly Sonia is standing in front of him. She glares up at him and lets out a deep sigh, as if mentally psyching herself for some arduous trial.

“Leon.” He's always inclined to listen to Sonia regardless, but her no-nonsense tone of voice makes him straighten up like a soldier at attention. “I’m going to go wash up and meet up with Nessa where she is. We’ll meet you back in a bit. The studio we’re going to is right. Down. There.” Her finger waves straight left of him as she stresses every last one of her words. 

He turns and indeed sees a pair of doors that leads to a straight hallway.

“Straight! Down! My friend should be the only one here right now so it won’t be hard to find him. Straight! Down!” She stresses one last time before she disappears to some other part of the building. 

He knows he has a certain...penchant for getting a bit off the track sometimes, but could he really not be trusted to walk down a straight hallway?

* * *

The answer was apparently not. 

He did walk down the hallway for sure, but then there were a couple of other doors that led to...to?

He wasn’t sure, but after a lot of walking he finds himself in a large, dark room. There are tall, black barrier like objects that block off the room into different sections. The quiet sound of talking hit his ears along with the even quieter sound of music. 

Leon follows the sound, already feeling a lecture coming as he recognizes one of the voices as Sonia’s. 

One of the blocks sections of the large room has low light coming from it. He turns the corner around the barrier for that and—

“Whoa!”

“Sorry!”

Leon quickly crouches down and offers his hand when he sees that he’s gone and knocked down whoever it is he just bumped into. Someone strangely familiar.

His heart leaps a bit when bright blue eyes peer up at him, framed by loose dreads. 

Pretty…

“Oh.” It’s quiet, but the deep voice brings Leon back to reality all the same. A brown hand grabs his and Leon pulls to help him up. “It’s you again.” In a flash, Leon suddenly realizes where he knows the man in dark wash jeans and a bright red hoodie from.

The jittery customer from the store.

There’s a small sound of surprise from behind the man and Leon only just remembers that Sonia and Nessa are also here. “Leon? You know Raihan already?” 

Raihan.

Leon didn’t realize quite how hungry he had been for a name until that second.

He turns to Sonia. “Just seen him at my work a couple of times is all.” 

Sonia turns to Raihan, her burrows furrowed and her mouth drawn into a pout. “I hope you didn’t let Leon help you find anything. His fashion sense is just eugh!” 

Before Leon can even open his mouth to protest, he hears Raihan laugh a bit but feels Raihan’s hand tense up a bit in his.

....

Why was he still holding Raihan’s hand?

Leon quickly releases the other man’s hand and shoves his in his pants’ pockets. Neither Raihan nor Sonia seemed to have noticed. Nessa stares at Leon for a bit with a shrewd gaze before her attention moves away from him. Leon isn’t all too concerned about that.

(Nessa’s gazes are unnerving. But he’s seen them often enough with no type of consequences that Leon should be afraid of...He hopes.)

“You think so? He….He helped me find some pretty nice outfits.” 

Sonia gapes. “Not Leon?! No way!! You have to show me what he helped you pick out some time!” 

Raihan makes a non committal noise before he walks over to what realizes is a tripod. Wha—

“Come on, let’s get these photos so I can get you guys out of here.” 

Nessa smiles slyly at Raihan as she adjusts the hem of her black off the shoulder top. “Aww, do you hate us that much Han? Can’t stand to be near us for too long huh.” 

Raihan rolls his eyes as he adjusts the tripod set up. “I just don’t want to keep you guys here too late.”

Leon is a bit lost. “Photos?” he asks. 

Raihan turns from where he is adjusting the lights a smidge. “Did Sonia not tell you?”

Sonia blinks in surprise. “Did I forget to say? You should’ve just asked me Leon!”

He did, twice in fact. Maybe even once more than that. But it’s a moot point to argue with stuff like that with Sonia. 

Raihan exchanges a fond, but exasperated look with Leon that tells him he knows just how Sonia can be sometimes. “I’m a photography major and I needed some models for a shoot. I asked Sonia and Nessa if they could model for me and bring anyone who was free since my other models bailed out on me last minute. Hope you weren’t too busy…”

“Oh no, not at all! I-I just have never modeled before. I don’t know how good I’ll be at it to be quite honest..”

Raihan gives him an encouraging smile. “It won’t be hard I promise, but you can just tell me if you want to stop. Come on now.” 

* * *

The shoot is fun. 

Leon doesn’t have any experience modeling, but Raihan easily guides him through it. Leon feels a bit awkward about it at first, but between the relaxing music, Sonia and Nessa’s easy chatter, and Raihan’s natural charisma, Leon finds himself even enjoying modeling a bit by the end of it all. 

(Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registers that Raihan seems completely different than how he was at the store and Leon can’t help but wonder if the man has a twin brother or something of the sort.)

“Alright,” Raihan leans up and away from his tripod after clicking one last group shot of them all. “I think that should be enough for me to work with. Thanks guys.” 

Nessa waves off his thanks. “Never a problem love. You should really be thanking Leon. I’m sure your teacher will be happy to see someone in your photos who’s not me or Sonia. We’re your back up models way too often.” 

Leon waves his arms up. “Oh no, it really wasn’t any trouble.” 

Still, Raihan turns to him anyway, eyes narrowed as he scans Leon. It makes Leon seize up. Oh god did he say something wrong? Or was there a stain on his shirt or something that he just noticed? Oh jeez, why was—

“Leon huh…” Raihan stares at him for a bit longer until he snaps his fingers in sudden realization. “Oh! So you’re the infamous flaker.” 

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t that. “F-Flaker?!” 

Sonia hits Nessa lightly on the arm from where they’re standing. “Ness, I told you stop calling him that! He doesn’t technically flake since he always says no to coming out in the first place.” 

“It’s because I was busy, you know that!” He knows he sounds a bit whiny, but a flaker? Really?

Raihan sends him a fanged smirk. “You could just say you didn’t want to meet me.” 

Leon doesn’t know what kind of face he’s making, but it’s enough to have Raihan nervously fluttering about his person in the next second. “I was just joshing ya! Sorry about that. Seriously it’s fine, we’re all in uni. I get being busy, I really do.” 

Leon finds it in him to muster up a grin. “It’s fine. I really should try to get out more anyway.” Leon is very nice, so he pretends not to hear Sonia mutter _Bloody right about that_ under her breath. 

Sonia yawns and drapes herself lazily over Sonia. “Babeeeeee, take me home. I’m sooooo tired.” 

Nessa rolls her eyes at the display, but still turns towards the door leading out. “We should get going. Come on Leon. We’ll see you later Han.” 

Leon frowns a bit. “You don’t want us to help you clean up?”

Raihan waves him off and stops flipping through the photos on his camera to start taking down all the equipment. “I’ll be fine, trust me. Night guys….Hope to see you around, Leon.” 

Leon gives him a shy smile and wave. “Yea, you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my best so any critiques and comments are always welcome. But hope you guys are still enjoying besides that!


End file.
